Thousands without power in Lower Mainland as feds issue special weather statement

Another storm set to hit B.C.'s Lower Mainland on Saturday is a reminder to prepare a 72-hour emergency kit at home, a spokesperson for B.C. Hydro said.

By 8 a.m., roughly 4,500 people in the region were without electricity, as crews rushed to assess the cause of the outages.

"The hardest hit areas are White Rock and Abbotsford," said Kevin Aquino, a spokesperson for B.C. Hydro, at 8 a.m. Saturday morning. "Crews are on route to determine the cause of the outage."

It is not known yet whether the morning's outages were weather-related, however, but Aquino said the public utility is prepared for impacts of a storm this weekend.

The largest outage, in White Rock, was caused by a fallen tree which knocked out power to nearly 2,400 homes.

But the region's residents closer to the ocean woke up to sunny skies Saturday, though meteorologists forecast more showers and winds gusting up to 60 kilometres an hour in Vancouver, similar to Richmond and Surrey.

Several ferry sailings had to be cancelled Friday because of intense winds.

Environment and Climate Change Canada warned of an impending "intense Pacific frontal system" in a special weather statement at 5:45 a.m. for the eastern and central Fraser Valley, which is forecast to get at times heavy rain Saturday, with 15 to 25 millimetres of expected to fall.

And meteorologists warned of a "long period of snowfall" on the already-storm damaged highways from the coast to the Interior, with the essential-vehicle-only Highway 3 from Hope to Princeton forecast to get 15 to 20 centimetres of snow over the next day.

"Consider postponing non-essential travel until conditions improve," the federal agency said. "Visibility may be suddenly reduced at times in heavy snow."

B.C. Hydro offers advice to anyone affected by power outages on its website.

It recommends people should prepare a home emergency kit with non-perishable food, flashlights and other essentials, and to keep warm and check that neighbours are safe and warm, especially seniors.

And the public utility warns people never to approach fallen electric wires, and urges households turn off major appliances and heating until power is restored to prevent a sudden load on the system.

"It's difficult to predict how much damage a storm will cause or how long a power outage will last," Aquino told CBC News. "Customers should always have an emergency kit on hand with supplies that can last for 72 hours."